Signal flag devices



Nov. 5, 1957 J. H. ABELL 2,812,130

SIGNAL FLAG DEVICES Filed April 16, 1956 I IINVENTOR. (J-056,0 b. #861;

United States Patent SIGNAL FLAG DEVICES Joseph H. Abel], Seymour, Ind.

Application April 16, 1956, Serial No. 578,453

2 Claims. (Cl. 232-35) This invention relates to signal flag devices and is particularly directed to devices for indicating when a door has been opened. Still more particularly this invention relates to signal flag devices for attachment to mail boxes and the like and adapted to raise a distinctively colored flag when the box door is operated.

It is often important to determine at a distance whether the door to a receptacle such as a mail or delivery box has been opened and hence to determine whether deliveries may have been made to or from the box. In rural or suburban areas the mail box is usually placed on a post beside the road and at a considerable distance from the home or place of business of the subscriber. Since the arrival time of a delivery man or letter carrier is uncertain, many needless trips to the box are usually made.

Postal regulations, on the other hand, are not eifective in requiring the postal carrier to raise or otherwise manipulate the manual flag usually provided on standard mail boxes. Further, no device is permitted on the box which will hinder ready access to the box or impede operation of the door.

Spring-operated flags with trigger mechanisms operable by the mail box door have been proposed in the past but usually the mechanism is light in weight, is vulnerable to the weather, has a short life and is unreliable in operation. One such mechanism requires the door to be fully closed else the trigger is operated and the flag rises. Such a mechanism is of little value in combination with boxes having twisted or ill-fitting doors.

The objects of this invention are to provide an improved flag-operating mechanism responsive to the movement of a door, such as the door on a mail or delivery box.

A more specific object of this invention is to provide an improved flag-operating mechanism responsive to the movement of the box door, which mechanism is strong, weather-resistant and reliable in operation, even with box doors which are twisted or ill-fitting.

The objects of this invention are attained by a flag device for mounting on the side of a mail or delivery box and responsive to the door thereof for raising a flag, characterized in this, that the device comprises a base plate, an upstanding pin staked at one end to said plate, a sleeve journaled on the pin, a flag arm with a flag extending radially from the sleeve, a spring for rotationally biasing the sleeve, and an escapement tooth on the side of the sleeve, a pivoted pawl on the plate slidably engaging the side of said tooth and adapted to release the biased sleeve, and a trigger arm on and pivoted with the pawl and shaped to slidably engage the side edge of said door and to slidably disengage said pawl.

Other objects and features of this invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art by referring to the specific embodiment of the invention described in the following specification and shown in the accompanying drawing, in which:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of said embodiment;

2,812,130 Patented Nov. 5, 1957 See Fig. 2. is. a side elevational view of the flag device, cocked ready for operation by the box door;

Fig. 3 is a sectional view taken on line 3-3 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a side elevational view corresponding to Fig. 2 but with the door opened and the flag-release mechanism operated, and

Fig. 5 is a sectional view taken on line 5-5 of Fig. 4.

The particular delivery or mail box shown in Fig.1 to which the flag mechanism of this invention has been applied is one of the sheet metal containers approved by the Postmaster General. The box 1 has a one-piece rounded quonset-type roof with a door 2 at one end hinged along the bottom end edge on pins or rivets 3. When the door is swung open, the trigger arm 4 is deflected to operate the escapement mechanism, to be described, to permit the raising of flag arm 5 with its metal flag 6. a The flag mechanism of this invention ispreferably assembled on the base plate 10 and is provided with stove bolts 11 for detachably mounting the base plateappropriately on the side of the box 1. The flag arm 5 is keyed,

welded, or otherwise secured to the'sleeve 12 which, in

turn, is pivotally journaled on pin 13 staked at right angles to the base plate 10. The sleeve is rotatably biased to swing the arm in a clockwise direction, in Fig. 1, by the spring 14. The spring 14 is placed under tension between the radial stub 15 at one end and a point on the base such as the anchor arm 16, at the other end of the spring.

Escapement mechanism is provided for holding the flag down, in cocked position, against the tension of spring 14. The escapement mechanism, according to this invention, comprises the escapement tooth or plate or detent 17. The particular detent shown is a plate welded to the side of sleeve 12 having a smooth side surface for slidably engaging the end of the pawl 18. The detent could, however, assume various forms, such for example, as a notch in the side of the sleeve. When the end of pawl 18 moves parallel to sleeve 12, it will leave the top surface of the plate 17 and permit the flag arm 5 and sleeve 12 to snap to an upstandingposition.

According to an important feature of this invention, the pawl 18 is curved and is pivoted on the pin 20 extending in a direction parallel to the plate and substantially normal to the pin 13. An extension of the pawl is the trigger arm 4. The outer end of the trigger arm is bent or otherwise formed into a cam surface 4a which overlies the path of the edge of the door 2. When the door is operated, the edge thereof slidably engages the cam surface 4a, deflecting the arm 4 outwardly and moving the pawl 18 from engagement with detent plate 17. Thereupon the flag rises.

According to another important feature of this inven tion the flag is halted at an upstanding position and is firmly held against a stop to prevent rattle or flutter of the flag in the Wind. For example, on the side of the curved pawl above the sleeve 12 is attached the stop block 21. In operation, the detent plate 17 travels up the side of the pawl in a scraping motion and stops against block 21. The length of the spring 14 and its tension are adjusted to hold the detent firmly against the stop block 21. The stop block 21 is attached to the pawl on the left side of the pawl pivot pin 20 so that the detent 17 pushes the pawl toward the base plate as the detent swings upwardly in a curved path. This sliding movement of the pawl is against the tension of the spring 22. Thus in the flagraised position, the pawl is pressed against the base plate 10 and the trigger arm 4 is swung outwardly and away from the door 1. Thereafter the door may be opened and closed without affecting the flag mechanism and without impeding the free operation of the door.

To reset, the subscriber is required only to depress the flag arm to its lowered position as shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 3 whereupon spring 22 swings the pawl 18 into overlying position on the detent plate 17, and the arm 4 returns to its door-engaging position. To define the position of the pawl and the trigger arm when the flagis cocked, conveniently, the shoulder 17a is formed on the. side of the detent plate. To limit the downward motion of the flag arm, the stop 23 is provided on the base plate underlying the detent.

A sheetmetal rectangular box 24, Fig. 3, is conveniently fitted over the mechanism withno openings except a hole for the sleeve 12 and the trigger arm 4. Such a housing effectively protects the operating mechanism from corrosion, dirt and rust.

While one specific embodiment of this invention has been disclosed for the purpose of describing the principles of the invention, it is to be understood that the specific disclosure is illustrative only and is not to be limitive.

The invention claimed is:

1. Incombination with a mailbox having a hinged door; a mail box signalflag device for mounting on the side of said box, said device comprising a base plate affixed to the side of said box, a pin secured to and extending at right angles. from said plate, a sleeve journaled on .the pin and including an escapement tooth movable therewith, said tooth having a surface lying in a plane normal to said plate and spaced therefrom, an arm having a signal flag at one end connected to and movable with said sleeve to and from flag signaling and non-signaling positions, spring means connected at one end to said sleeve and at its other end to said plate for biasing the sleeve in one direction wherein the flag is raised to vertical signaling position, a pawl pivotally connected to said plate on a fixed axis normal to said sleeve, said pawl having one of its ends shaped to lie within the opening and closing path of said door and engageable with the side of said door when the door is in its closed position, said pawl having the. other of its ends depending vertically and including an end portion engageable with said tooth surface, said end portion being movable out of engagement with said tooth surface to permit the biasing of said signal flag to signaling position upon the opening of the door, and spring means connected at one end to said pawl and its other end with said plate for normally biasing said pawl into one position wherein one end thereof is in engagement with the side of said door and the other end thereof is in engagement with said tooth surface whereby said signal flag is held in non'signaling position.

2. A device of the character described in claim 1 wherein stop means are carried by said pawl within the path of and engageable by said tooth surface as said flag is moved to its flag signaling position.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

